Google’s About To Slap Your Website Silly

If you have been ignoring all of the spam emails that have been filling up your in-box over the last month about Mobile Apocolypse, it may be time to read one. If you haven’t heard, Google is about to deliver the biggest &$%%#* slap on April 21st, and 80% of website owners don’t have a clue.

In case you missed my last post or haven’t seen anything trending online; Google will be implementing a new mobile algorithm change on April 21st. In essence, if your website is not mobile friendly, your website will not show up in mobile results.

Do You Realize What This Can Do To Your Business?

Your website, if not mobile friendly will vanish from mobile search. 60% of all searches are done with a mobile device which includes all forms of tablets. I am sure you think that you just had your website redone last year, and it was built with responsive design. Good start, but it may not be enough to pass Google’s test.

I don’t want to freak you out, but before you read any further, you may just want to check real quick if your site is mobile friendly. Check out Google’s Mobile-Friendly test before we go too far into this.

How did you fair?

Ok, so lets dive into why this mobile change is taking place, and why it has caused waves all over the web. Maybe this infographic will help explain things a little better.

You cannot deny that everyone is using their smartphones, for pretty much everything. I like to have fun in my house once a month just by shutting off the wi-fi right before I go to bed. We just rely on our phones for everything from getting directions, to texting quick messages, to shopping online or doing research before we make that next purchase.

The Mobile Phone is A Human Remote Control

48% of adults have phones worldwide. Your mother or grandmother probably both have phones.

73% of consumers access websites ONLY with their mobile device. If your website is not mobile friendly, how many of these clients are you going to miss?

71% of smartphone users search for a product using mobile after seeing an advertisement. (remember that cool product on TV you saw? Where did you search?)

This last stat deserves its own line:

ONLY 20% of companies have mobile optimized websites

If you happen to be one of the 20%, congratulations, because you are so far ahead of the curve. There are big companies….national chains and retailers that are scrambling right now to fix their site and be prepared for April 21st. You many need to do the same. If you do, I would caution you not to wait until mid-April to try and get this resolved. Every knowledgeable SEO company, who handles clients has been hard at work to fix these sites, and it is only going to get busier leading up to the deadline.

One more thing to keep in mind. Your entire site will need to be mobile friendly, not just your home page. Don’t worry just yet, the fix for many of the sites we have dealt with has been fairly simple. If you want to learn more about what needs to be done on your site, please fill out the Hit Me SEO discovery form, and we will let you know what needs to be done so you don’t miss out on that 60% of traffic.